


How they met

by Fear_The_Dragon_Lord



Series: Exchanging One Life for Another [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts, Multi, OCs - Freeform, fread weasley Love story, fred lives au, fred weasley - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-08-24 15:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16643183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fear_The_Dragon_Lord/pseuds/Fear_The_Dragon_Lord
Summary: Lucy is finally going to Hogwarts. She's so excited to be practicing magic for the next 7 years with her two best friends, Eloise and Mae.A fortunate series of events leads Lucy, Eloise, and Mae to grow closer to the Weasley family. It isn't until an unlikely courageous act to save one of the Weasley twin's lives that she realizes her feelings are stronger than she thought.If only he could return them... but who could have feelings for the monster she became?





	1. The Sorting Ceremony

 

Lucy stood in the boat and started rocking it from side to side. She was rewarded with two dramatic squeals from her friends Eloise and Mae. Lucy looked back to see the two of them holding onto each other, laughing at Lucy's attempt to scare them. The two boys who were in the back of the boat held onto the sides of it, letting out a few noises of concern. Once Lucy stopped rocking the boat, both boys glared up at her.  
  
"You stupid girls. What if the boat tipped over?" One of the boys snapped, straightening his tie.  
  
"Then I guess we'd have to swim across." Eloise said, smirking at the boys and flipping her silver veela hair over her shoulder, making both of them blush.  
  
"Then we'd get to meet the giant squid." Mae said and started gushing about how cute she thought aquatic creatures were, her hair slowly turning to a bright lemon yellow color, when suddenly the boat hit the doc. This caused Lucy, who hadn't sat back down yet, to fall over the side. She hit her head on her way down, but thanks to Eloise's quick reflexes, she'd only got half a leg and some of her robe wet. Lucy's state of shock from the fall didn't last long; she was brought back down to earth when two identical voices began to howl with laughter. She turned around to see two red headed boys holding one another up from laughing so hard, occasionally glancing at Lucy and then immediately being sent into another fit of laughter.  
  
"I MEANT TO DO THAT!" Lucy yelled at them and stomped her dry foot down into the water.  
  
"You meant to fall into the lake?" One asked, stifling his laughter.  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." The two boys straightened and made their faces neutral.  
  
"Why would you do that?" The other asked.  
  
"Well I… I… thought it was a lovely night for a swim, and… and I decided I didn't want to wait to put on my wetsuit, so I just went for it." Lucy could tell that she was just feeding into their amusement, but she didn't mind, she thought the whole situation was quite funny as well.  
  
"Well, Gred, what do you say we join her?"  
  
"I say a dip in the lake sounds quite nice, Forge."  
  
"Off we go." They said together and were now trudging into the lake towards Lucy who was trying very hard to contain a smile. They splashed their way up to her not minding the stares from the other first years who were waiting for instruction on the docks.

“I’m Fred. This is my brother George,” Fred gestured to his twin who smirked. “What’s your name?”

“Lucy… Sallow.” Lucy said eyeing the twins uriously. “Wait, you’re Weasley’s!” Fred and George gave each other a nervous look and quietly confirmed Lucy’s statement. “Your dad works at the ministry, right? He observes muggles and what not, doesn’t he? That must be fascinating having someone around who can tell you about the muggle world, I’ve always thought they were quite silly, it’s a wonder how they get so much done without magic.” Lucy was smiling brightly at them. Slowly the worry vanished from their faces and was replaced with a smile. They both started laughing again.

“You’re right, it’s a wonder how they even manage to get the news without magic.” Fred laughed, the other two joined in, but the fun was cut short when the door to the castle swung open drawing over their attention along with the rest of the first years.  
  
"Welcome students, to Hogw— what do you three think you're doing?" A tall lady in a dark blue robe and greying hair glared down at Lucy and the twins over her thin spectacles, noticing that the three of them were nearly knee deep in the lake.  
  
"We were just checking the lake, professor," Lucy said, reaching a hand down to touch the water and coming back up and examining it. "Yup, that's water." She earned another fit of giggles for this from Eloise and Mae who had safely made it to dry land.  
  
"Get out of there, right now." The lady, who later introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, said with a stern look. With a flick of the wand, she had dried the three of them off and began her speech while leading all the children into the school.  
  
The inside of the Great Hall was amazing to say the least. The ceiling mirrored the night sky, four long tables took over the room, all with color coded students, and at the very front was a long line of professors. Fred and George pulled Lucy's attention away from her surroundings by coming up on either side of her.  
  
"What house do you reckon you'll be in?" Fred asked.  
  
"Probably Slytherin... but I'd honestly be happy with any house I get into."  
  
"Slytherin? Yuck! You're way too funny to be in that house." George started  
  
"Yeah, and that's where all the bad witches and wizards go."

“Not to mention, you’re rather fascinated by muggles,”

“As opposed to being disgusted by them.” Fred finished.  
  
"You're not wrong," Lucy looked at her feet solemnly. "But they're not all bad. There has to be a few decent people in that house. Who knows, maybe I'll be one of them." Their attention was taken again, this time by the sorting hat. It gave a long speech about the houses and when it had finished, Professor McGonagall pulled out a list and began to read names from it.  
  
"Eloise Lebeux" McGonagall called out. Eloise walked up to the stool where the sorting hat debated about whether to put her in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. After a minute or two, the sorting hats booming voice echoed throughout the great hall.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" A thunderous roar of clapping followed as Eloise made her way to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Blake Witherbee" the boy who had scolded Lucy earlier on the boats stepped up. It wasn't much of a shock to her when he was placed in Ravenclaw. The Weasley twins were next, and again, no shock when they were both placed in Gryffindor, only to be greeted by two more red headed boys, that Lucy assumed were their brothers. A few others went and soon only four students were left to be sorted.  
  
"Maebelle Wren." Mae's hair turned a bright red color to match her cheeks as she went up. Before the hat was even on her head, it shouted Hufflepuff. She had a shy smile on her face as she walked to the Hufflepuff table and was pleasantly greeted by an older boy who made Mae’s hair turn into a bubblegum pink when he kissed her hand.

"Lucelia Sallow." Lucy’s attention was brought back to the sorting and she walked up to the stool. The hat was placed on her head and began thinking out loud.  
  
"Hmm... definitely not a Ravenclaw," Lucy sent a glare at Fred, George, and Eloise who were snickering. "Too much of a coward to be in Gryffindor," Now the twins were full on laughing and Eloise put her head down to hide her face after making a loud snorting noise.  
  
"Dude. I know I'm a coward, but you don't have to call me out like that in front of the whole school… cockwomble."  
  
"Hmmm, that confirms it. I'll put you in... SLYTHERIN!" Lucy made her way over to the Slytherin table while Fred and George booed at her. She merely responded by sticking her tongue out at them. The rest of the sorting finished quickly and everyone began to dig in to the feast that lay before them. The rest of dinner had been pretty uneventful and soon Lucy was following a Slytherin prefect down to the dungeons and heading to her dorm as soon as possible.  
  
Lucy laid down in her bed, staring out the window where several sea creatures were swimming around. A few merpeople even swam along sending glares inside at her. After a few minutes of making faces at the mercreatures, she had been lulled to sleep from the quiet swishing of water and the occasional bubbles floating to the surface far above the window.


	2. The First Day

Lucy woke up the next morning and rushed straight to the great hall for breakfast after putting on her uniform. Her two roommates had already left before her and hadn’t made any effort to wake her up, so she was under the impression that she was running late. As she stormed through the doors of the great hall, her heart calmed down and she noticed only about half the students were in there including Mae who was sitting next to the boy she met at the sorting feast. Lucy waved to her with a smirk and Mae waved back shyly. After having a huge breakfast of porridge, assorted fruits, and pumpkin juice, Lucy left the great hall to seek out her transfigurations class. After several minutes of wandering, Lucy decided it was time to ask for help. She spotted a tall boy wearing a red trimmed robe, he was walking through the halls. Lucy didn’t remember seeing him in the group of first years who were being sorted the previous night, so she assumed he was in a higher year and would most likely know where the transfiguration classroom was, so she ran up to him.

“Pardon. Do you know where the Transfiguration classroom is?” Lucy’s face flushed slightly when she finally caught up to him. _Oh no, he’s beautiful_ . She thought. His lips curled into a smirk. _Oh no, oh no, oh no._

“ ‘Course, it’s down the hall, on the right.” He said in a thick Scottish accent, pointing down the hall. Lucy beamed up at him.

“Thank you.” Lucy said in a wretchedly timid voice. She turned away and tripped over her foot, but caught herself and refused to look back when she heard a chuckle from the Gryffindor boy. _Just keep walking. Don’t make any more of a fool of yourself than you already have._ Half way down the hall, Lucy stopped abruptly. _I wonder what his name is._ She turned back towards the boy. “I’m Lucy by the way,” she shouted. “Lucy Sallow.” He looked back at her with amusement plastered all over his face. 

“Oliver Wood.” He said, and then disappeared behind the corner. _God damn, he is one fine piece of ass… Is this what mom meant when she said my hormones would make me think strange things?_

Lucy walked into class immediately spotting Eloise’s long silvery-blonde hair, and ran to her. She was sitting with another Gryffindor girl who had dark skin and bouncy hair. Lucy slammed her hands on the table in front of the two girls, causing both of them to jump, and half the class to turn in her direction.

“Mooorniiing.” Lucy said in a sing-song voice. The girl who was sitting next to Eloise giggled.

“You must be Lucy. Eloise has told me all about you and Mae. I’m Angelina.” Angelina stuck her hand out and Lucy took it with a confirming nod.

“You won’t believe what happened, on the way here,” Lucy quietly squealed. “I talked to this really hot guy from Gryffindor house.”

“Oh My God, who!?” Eloise and Angelina asked in hushed voices.

“His Name is Oliver Wood.”

“He is such a dreamboat.” Angelina confirmed.

“Who’s a dreamboat?” The three girls looked up to see Mae. Her hair was a light pink that it usually turned when she was crushing.

“His name is Oliver Wood. He’s a third year in Gryffindor.” Eloise answered.

“Speaking of dreamboats, who was that guy you were sitting with at breakfast.” Lucy asked with a smirk. Mae bit her lip and her hair turned into its usual bright pink color.

“His name is Cedric, and he’s the sweetest guy ever. And, oh god, I’m already crushing so hard and I only met him yesterday.” Mae’s rant was interrupted by Professor McGonagall walking in and telling everyone to sit down.

“Come on.” Lucy grabbed Mae’s hand and dragged her to a table with two empty seats, a few places back from where Eloise and Angelina were sitting. It wasn’t until the two slid into their seats that they noticed the Weasley twins had occupied the table right behind them.

“What an odd pair, you two are,” Fred said. Both he and George leaned forward. Mae and Lucy turned back to look at them with skeptical eyes.

“Who would’ve thought. A Slytherin and a Hufflepuff getting along.” George said. Mae’s hair turned a dark murky green and Lucy smirked.

“What a predictable pair, you two are.” Fred and George both put a hand to their heart and mocked being hurt at Lucy’s words.

“Fred and I?”

“Predictable?" 

“How dare you.”

“We’re anything but predictable.”

“You’ll regret saying that, Sallow.”

“Just you watch your back.” Fred said with fake malice. Lucy rolled her eyes and turned back to the front, Mae followed suit and her hair slowly turned back to her usual pink color.

Later on in the day was flying lessons class. This was the time where the Weasley twins had planned to get back at Lucy for her earlier comment. But they were pleasantly surprised when the broom made a fool of her for them. Most of the class, Lucy was struggling to get her broom off the ground and into her hand. When she finally did, the broom kept throwing her face first into the ground. Fred and George who proved to be naturals at flying, would laugh and poke fun at her from the air, occasionally throwing down a exploding snaps, to make it even more difficult for Lucy to get her broom under control. She didn’t let it get to her, though, in fact, she was secretly amused by it, but she’d never let Fred and George know that

The days following at Hogwarts continued to go on like this. Lucy and the twins bickering and teasing each other in their friendly feud. The girls drooling over Oliver Wood, with the exception of Mae, who was drooling over Cedric Diggory. And of course, learning magic.

At least, until Halloween.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I change my mind. I'm gonna just suck it up and upload on here too


	3. Halloween

No one could have predicted that the events of Halloween would happen, nor could they predict the newfound treasures that had been acquired by two identical first years. The day started off perfectly normal. Fred, George, and their new friend Lee, along with Lucy, Eloise, Mae, and Angelina were walking down to dungeons to pull a prank on their favorite greasy haired, potions professor.

The plan started with Angelina and Lucy keep a lookout for when Snape passed the Merlin statue and then give a signal to Mae. Mae would morph into Dumbledore and lead Snape down the hall where Fred and George would be waiting on one side of the hall, and Eloise and Lee on the other side. Mae would then tell Snape that some students from his house were down the hall causing a commotion and that he’d like for Snape to deal with them as he sees fit. Then when Snape passes Fred, George, Lee, and Eloise to go check, the four of them would throw stink bombs at him and purple hair dye, that was charmed to land on his hair, would fall from the ceiling.

Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work out exactly how they wanted. Angelina and Lucy successfully did their part and alerted Mae that Snape was coming. Mae held up her part in leading Snape to the correct hall, but when Snape turned the corner, he was met with the Weasley twins wrestling in a puddle of purple while Eloise and Lee were laughing. That’s how Fred, George, Eloise, and Lee ended up being dragged to Filch’s office for detention. The four Gryffindors had been subjected to the horrid punishment of cleaning Filch’s office while he sat petting his cat and mumbling about despicable kids. A while later, there was a knock on the door and Snape entered with Lucy and Angelina in toe. 

“I found two more tricksters sneaking around, and brought them here for detention.” Snape said.

“Perfect, put ‘em to work with the others. I’ll keep a good eye on ‘em.” Filch said, sneering.

“Actually, there’s a situation in Ravenclaw tower that I think needs your expertise,” Snape said. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the students.”

“Right, of course, Professor.” Filch and Mrs. Norris made their way out to the hall and as soon as the door closed, Snape unmorphed into Mae.

“Ready to get out of here?” Mae asked, gesturing to the door.

“Brilliant. You three are absolutely brilliant.” George said, beaming at Mae

“Don’t look at me, it was Lucy’s idea.” Mae said, blushing.

“Maybe the sorting hat was wrong when he said that were definitely not a Ravenclaw.” Fred said, smirking at Lucy who stuck her tongue out.

“You, guy’s we really should get going… before Filch gets back.” Mae gestured to the door again. Fred turned around and grabbed a giant piece of parchment that was stuffed between two cabinets and tucked it into his robe.

“Alright, let’s go.” Fred said, and all of them headed for the hallway. They had almost made it home free, when a familiar Scottish voice called out.

“What are you lot up to, sneaking around the halls at night?” Oliver asked. The group turned around and immediately, the four girls became blushing messes, much to the twins and Lee’s disgust.

“We were just heading up to the Gryffindor common room.” Eloise, whose cheeks were a deep rosey pink, said and then bit her bottom lip. Oliver eyed each of the first years taking in all the expressions on their faces. Once he was done assessing them, he chuckled.

“Alright, then-” Oliver was interrupted by another familiar voice.

“Fred, George, what do you think you’re doing? It’s late, you should be in the common room… all of you should be in your common rooms.” Percy said. His arms were trembling under an enormous pile of books.

“We could ask you the same thing, Perce.” George started.

“Yeah, you must think you’re really something if you can stand here and lecture us about being out late when you’re roaming the halls too.” Fred finished.

“That’s different. I was in the library studying, not running around like a bunch of gremlins. Besides, I was heading back to the common room just now, that is, until I saw you two.” Percy then looked over at Oliver. “You should be heading back to the common room as well.”

“You’re right, Weasley. Let me help you out with that.” Wood grabbed the top half of Percy’s pile of books and walked off so that Percy would have no choice but to follow him. Oliver looked back at the small group of first years. Lucy mouthed a _thank you_ to him and gave her a wink. The four girls swooned as they followed Oliver with their eyes. With a huff of irritation, Fred and George lead the group to the Gryffindor common room.

They all stayed up well passed curfew laughing at one another’s impressions of Snape and Filch, eating candy, and discussing more pranks. Since Lucy and Mae didn’t want to get caught being out of bed passed curfew, they took refuge on the couch, insisting that they didn’t want to impose on the other girls’ in Angelia’s and Eloise’s room. And of course refusing the boys offers to let them take one of their beds.

Morning came too soon. Lucy and Mae were woken by the bustling around of students who got up early, one of those students being Percy Weasley, who had scolded them for not going back to their own rooms at a reasonable time. Charlie Weasley, however, thought the whole situation was hilarious and saved the two girls by distracting his brother while they made a run for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing this chapter, it gave me a lot of room to use my imagination and fill in some things that weren't explained in the OG. Obviously this wouldn't have happened in the OG, but I've always wondered how Fred and George got the Marauders Map and how they figured it out. If anyone has any idea how they cannonly did so, please tell me.


	4. The Burrow

“What are your plans for the holidays?” Lucy asked the twins.

“We’re heading back to the burrow, to celebrate Christmas with our family.” George said.

“What about you?” Fred asked.

“I’m gonna stay here. My mum is helping out with a ministry reestablishment in Africa so that young witches and wizards can study over there instead of having to move away from their family to study.” Lucy took a seat across from the twins at the Gryffindor table.

“What about your dad?” Fred asked.

“He died when I was three.” There was an awkward silence. Fred and George both made O shapes with their mouths and were about to say sorry. “Please, don’t apologize, it’s not something I’m sad about, I barely knew him.” The twins nodded, but Lucy could tell there was still some tension in the air.

“What about Eloise and Mae?” George asked.

“Mae is spending the holiday with her mum and dad in Canada and Eloise is going to visit her family in France.”

“If you want, we could ask our mum if you can come stay at the burrow with us.” Fred suggested.

“Yeah, and then we can work on more pranks over the holiday.” George added. They were both smiling and any awkwardness that had been there, suddenly disappeared.

“No no, I don’t want to impose,” Lucy started. “I just thought I’d ask in case you were staying.

“You wouldn’t be imposing at all-” Fred started.

“Our mum loves children-”

“The more, the merrier-”

“Let’s ask Charlie if he can send a note-" 

“Yes. Hey Charlie!” Fred shouted. Charlie who was at the far end of the table, looked up to see his brothers and gave a nod of acknowledgment.

“Can you write a letter to mum and let her know we’re bringing Lucy home with us over the holiday?” George asked. Lucy started to blush hard at this point.

“Be sure to tell her to tell Ginny to make a place in her room for Lu to sleep.” Fred shouted.

“You guys really don’t need to do that.” Lucy said in a nervous slur.

“Too late, I’m already writing a note. Can’t back out now.” Charlie said with a wink, making Lucy blush even more. She looked down at the table in front of him, and sure enough, he’d already started scribbling a note. She turned back to the twins who were grinning from ear to ear.

“You two really didn’t have to do that.” Lucy said.

“Of course we did-”

“You’re our friend-”

“What kind of awful people would we be-”

“If we let you spend your christmas alone-

“And in the Slytherin rooms in the dungeon, no less?” Lucy giggled at how they completed eachothers sentences. She felt a little more at ease about the whole thing now.

That night, Lucy wrote a letter to her mum, letting her know that she would be spending the holiday with the Weasley family at the burrow. A week later, Lucy got a letter from her mum saying how happy she was that lucy had such amazing friends who would take her in during her absence over the holiday, and how her family knew the Weasley family, and how she adored them and thought Lucy would enjoy herself at the burrow.

The next morning, Lucy woke up and packed a small bag of her things, just enough to last through the time she’d be at the burrow. As soon as she was done, she rushed up to the great hall and met Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Angelina who was packed for a tropical vacation overseas. Lee was sitting across from them with the twins and Eloise and Mae soon joined the group with packed bags as well. They all laughed over their breakfast, enjoying one another before leaving to get on the Hogwarts express. 

The trip to platform 9 ¾ was too short. Angelina split from the group to go to her parents, Mae and Eloise hugged Lucy goodbye as they made their way across the station to their family’s, Lee had met his older cousin and they both were gone within seconds. Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Lucy were waiting on the platform as their peers slowly started to clear out. Out of boredom, the twins and Lucy had begun taking turns throwing exploding snaps at Percy’s feet while he tried to read his book. Charlie was leaning against the wall laughing at his brothers misfortune that was being caused by a couple of first years and refused to do anything to help either side. Meanwhile, Percy would scold the three and then walk a few feet away. This routine continued until a loud poof sound brought their attention towards the fireplaces on the right of the station. A tall man with bright red hair that matched the Weasley brothers’, stepped out. He looked around at the kids with a bright smile and his eyes stopped on Lucy.

“Ah! You must be Lucy. Molly told me you’d be joining us for the holiday’s. I’m Arthur Weasley.” Mr. Weasley said sticking a hand out.

“Please to meet you, Mr. Weasley.” Lucy said shaking his hand. 

“Now, grab your things everyone. We’re going to be traveling by floo.” Mr. Weasley beckoned the children forward. Percy who was more than happy to be going home, took it upon himself to go first. He grabbed his bag and a handful of floo powder, practically shouted “the burrow”, and was gone in a puff of smoke. “Fred, you next.” George pushed his way passed Fred and repeated what Percy had done, while Fred tried to keep a straight face. “George, you’re up.” Fred stepped up and gave a wink to Lucy before disappearing as well. “Lucy, you go on ahead. Charlie and I are going to discuss a few things before heading back to the burrow. Would you mind letting Molly know, so she doesn’t worry?”

“Of course. Thank you again, for letting me come to the burrow, I really appreciate it.” Lucy said and grabbed a handful of floo powder.

“Happy to have more company. The burrow needed some change to liven things up, anyway.” Mr.Weasley nodded and Lucy took that as her que to leave.

Lucy felt her whole body pull and shift before her feet hit solid ground again. She stepped through the fireplace and was greeted by the lovely smell of bread baking. She was shocked to see the room around her was empty and wondered where Fred and George had gone. The swishing and clicking sound of pans being cleaned piqued Lucy’s interest, so she followed it. The sounds led her right into the kitchen, where a plump woman with bright red hair was chopping vegetables and a smaller girl with the same bright hair was cutting little star shapes out of, what Lucy assumed was, cookie dough. Lucy looked around taking everything in, from the large grandfather clock to the dishes floating above the sink, cleaning themselves.

“Pardon me, are you Mrs. Weasley?” Lucy stepped into the kitchen to make herself seen.

“Oh, dear. Come in, come in. How long have you been standing there? Not long, I hope.” Mrs. Weasley said, beckoning Lucy into the kitchen.

“No. I just got in. I was looking for Fred and George actually. They weren’t in the other room when I flooed through.”

“Oh, those two cretin’s, leaving you alone like that. FRED! GEORGE!” Mrs. Weasley shouted through the doorway and then brought Lucy over to the table. “Lucy, right?” Lucy nodded. “Would you like something to eat, deer? I’ve got plenty of biscuits.”

“No thank you. I had a big breakfast at Hogwarts before we left.” Lucy said and sat next to Ginny.

“Hello, I’m Ginny.” Ginny beamed up at Lucy and handed her a cookie cutter. “Wanna help me cut out cookies?”

“I’d love to.” Lucy took the cutter and began helping Ginny. Mrs. Weasley handed Lucy and Ginny each a small goblet of pumpkin juice, and shouted for Fred and George once more before going back to chopping vegetables. A few seconds later there were loud stomping noises followed by a loud yelp from Percy and the twins bolted around the corner and into the kitchen.

“What did you two do to your brother, this time?” Mrs. Weasley scholded.

“Nothing.” Fred and George said in sync with sly grins. They grabbed Lucy by either arm and dragged her up stairs, much to Ginny’s irritation as she protested, to discuss pranks. Lucy gave a small smile to Ginny and assured her that they would hang out later. The rest of the day was spent snacking on sweets that Charlie had swiped for them from Honeydukes and discussing a multitude of ways to mess with Percy over the break. Later on they all enjoyed a lovely dinner, courteous of Mrs. Weasley. Lucy got a chance to meet Freds and Georges younger brother Ron, who went completely red in the face all the way up to his ears when Lucy said hello to him. Fred and George who got a kick out of embarrassing their younger brother, took extra care to tease him about becoming a blushing mess every time Lucy spoke to him.

That night, Lucy and Ginny stayed up until the early morning, gossiping with one another in hushed voices. Ginny who was only eight years old, quickly became accustomed to having another girl in the house to talk to. They’d grown a close sisterly bond within the first night of Lucy’s stay, and fell asleep next to each other on the floor in a pile of blankets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was really awkward, sorry if it made you cringe. Hopefully the next one's better.


	5. The Marauders Map

Lucy was so happy that she let the twins talk her into staying at the burrow. She absolutely adored Mrs. Weasley, who insisted she call her Molly. Mr. Weasley, who was fascinated by muggles, had shared his discoveries with her over the table during breakfast and dinner. The eldest son, Bill, happily welcomed her and treated her with just as much love and care as he did for Ginny, occasionally jumping through hoops to spoil the two of them. Charlie was always ready to give her a helping hand anytime she needed anything. Percy allowed her to use his nice parchment so she could write letters to her mum. Ron didn’t talk with her much, but when he did, his whole face would go red and Lucy couldn’t help but think his little crush was adorable. Ginny became an amazing new friend who Lucy pampered with nail polish, hair plaiting sessions, and night time ghost stories throughout the holiday break. 

And then there was Fred and George. Lucy had already become quite fond of the two, but spending two weeks with them at their home, without having to worry over school, just increased her affection towards them. The three of them would stay up as late as Molly would permit them, joking around, drinking warm butterbeers, and of course conducting prank meetings.

On a particularly cold and thundering night, Lucy and the twins hudled by the fire, wrapped up in the sweaters Molly had custom made for them, with the exception of Lucy, who was wearing one of Percy’s old sweaters that he refused to wear, while Molly finished up making one for Lucy. Ginny and Ron had gone to bed early that night, Percy was isolated up in his room, Charlie and Bill were with Mr. Weasley at the ministry to help finish up some last minute work so Mr. Weasley could be free for the holiday, and Molly was in the kitchen enjoying a nice cup of tea while she waited for her husband and sons to get home.

Once the three were sure that no one else was around, Fred pulled the parchment he stole from Filch’s office out of his sweater.

“What d’you reckon Filch was keeping this locked up for?” George asked.

“Let me see it.” Lucy said and took it from Fred. She opened the parchment all the way and held it to the fire so it was easier to examine. “Hmmm, what if it’s invisible ink and we need to use a spell to reveal the writing?”

“What kind of spell would do that?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know,” Lucy smirked. “But I think we know someone who might.” The twins and Lucy rushed upstairs as quietly as possible to Percy’s room. After knocking on the door a few times, a tired looking Percy opened up.

“Percy, you’re an expert at spells, right?” Lucy asked in the most innocent voice she could muster.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m in expert, but I certainly know a fair amount. What about it?" 

“Have you ever heard of a spell that allows writing to become invisible, or a spell to make writing visible?”

“Well, of course I have. Come in, I’ll see if I can’t find the spell in one of my books.” The three stepped into Percy’s room and waited patiently for him to rummage through his tall tower of books. “Aha! Here it is,” Percy brought over a book that looked older than Dumbledore himself. “Right here, a Revealer or the spell Aparecium can make invisible ink reveal itself. Does that help?” Percy said closing his book.

“Yes. Thank you Percy, you’re absolutely brilliant.” Lucy said and the twins struggled to contain their laughs.

“I am, aren’t I.” Percy said with his chest puffed. “Now, off you go. I need to sleep.” Lucy, Fred, and George made their way back downstairs to the fire.

“So, how do you suppose we use the spell without getting in trouble?” Fred asked. “We can’t use magic outside of school, remember. That spell isn’t of much use to us right now is it.”

“As long as our magic can’t be traced back to us, then we can use it.” Lucy said with a smirk. “Charlie left his wand in his room, right? He’s of age to use magic. Logically speaking, if we use his wand, the magic can only be traced back to him, but since he isn’t underage, there would be no reason for the ministry to look into it and he won’t get in trouble… Come on.” Lucy got up and the twins followed. They trudged to the top floor where Bill and Charlie’s room was. It was almost too easy. Charlie had left his want sitting right on his bed in plain sight.

“Brilliant.” George grabbed the wand and looked back at Lucy. “I don’t know what the sorting hat was thinking when he said you definitely don’t belong in Ravenclaw. This was quite a clever plan.”

“I’m pretty sure cleverness is a Slytherin trait, but thanks all the same.” Lucy said.

“What was the spell, again? Aparium?” George looked to the other two for confirmation.

“Aparecium.” Lucy corrected. George repeated the incantation and tapped the wand to the parchment and ink began to swirl around the parchment until they revealed writing. The three quietly cheered as they thought they’d done it. Lucy held the parchment up and began to read. “Messer’s… Moony? Wormtail… Padfoot?” Lucy cleared her throat and started over, shaking the thoughts from her head. “Messer’s Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would like to give their compliments to Miss. Sallow, Mister Weasley, and Mister Weasley. Nice try, you three, but we won’t reveal our secrets to you that easily.” Lucy furrowed her brows, she knew these names… some of them, at least.

“What the bloody hell is that suppose to mean?” George said. 

“And how is it, this parchment knows who we are?” Fred scratched the back of his neck. “It’s quite genius, though, if you think about it. A parchment that can respond to those using it.” George nodded in agreement to Fred.

“What do you think, Lucy?” George asked, he and Fred looked at her, noticing she was still examining the writing.

“What is it, Lu?” Fred asked, stepping closer so he could see the parchment too. George mirrored his brother. Lucy was staring at the paper intently, when she sucked in a quick breath of realization. This was the map that Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus told her about. Lucy snatched  Charlies wand from Georges hand. 

“I solemnly swear, that I, am up to no good.” Lucy tapped on the paper and it began show swirls of ink, words, footprints, names… it was a map. A map of Hogwart. The three of them gasped, Lucy threw Charlies wand on the bed and they ran out of the room and made a beeline straight for Fred and George's room. Once they were in the room and the door was shut tightly behind, the twins demanded an explanation from Lucy. She told them about when she was younger, when her dad had brought her to her Uncle Padfoots house. She stayed with him and his friend, her Uncle Moony. They were a funny and loving pair who told her amazing stories about their times at Hogwarts. She told the twins about how her Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony made a map with two of their friends. She remembered it was the Marauders Map and her Uncle Padfoot told her how to open and close it with simple incantations, and that’s how she knew what to say to get the map to reveal itself.

Of course she made sure to use her uncles code names, so as not to reveal who they really were. As much as she loved her Uncle Sirius and as much as she believed he was innocent, she couldn’t risk being associated with him. What would Fred and George think if they found out? They would probably think they were right in saying that Slytherin was the bad house, and that if she was related to the Black family in any way, that would mean she’s probably evil, just like the rest of them. And if the twins knew, it wouldn’t be long before they told Eloise and Mae. Lucy couldn’t risk losing their friendship either.

For now, Lucy was content with sharing only the half truth.


	6. Lucy's Dream

Lucy had thoroughly enjoyed her stay at the burrow with the Weasley’s, but she was ready to get back to Hogwarts. She, along with the twins, were aching to try out their knew found map of Hogwarts. The platform was bustling with students of all ages and houses, ready for another seven months of magic. When Lucy ran through platform 9 ¾, she immediately spotted Mae, Eloise, and Angelina talking to each other outside of the express. She ran towards the three girls and pulled them into a big hug and they all happily reciprocated. Lucy was about to pull away from the small group hug and ask them about their holidays when two bodies crashed into her from behind and pulling all the girls back into a tight hug. Lee had come up and joined the group hug on the other side and smiled at Lucy cheekily and she smiled back at him.

“I’m so ready to get back to Hogwarts. As much as I enjoyed my time in Canada, Hogwarts will always be number one on my list.” Mae said, trying and failing to pull from the hug.

“We should get on the express and find a cabin that we can all sit in before they’re too full.” Angelina said, pulling away from the hug more efficiently than Mae. The group made their way to an empty cabin near the middle of the express. Eloise and Angelina migrated towards one another and began discussing having a welcome-back-esque sleepover in their dorm. The twins were showing Lee and Mae fun games to play with Bertie Botts every flavored beans. And Lucy, who was sitting on the same side as the twins, across from Eloise and Angie, decided to curl up on the side of the seat that wasn’t being occupied by Fred or George, and fell asleep within seconds of her eyes closing.

 

 **ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ**  


There was a loud knock on the door. Sirius gestured for Remus to sit back down and keep Lily company before getting up to answer the door. Sirius was glad that he did as soon as he saw who was at there. It was his brother, Regulus. But he wasn’t alone. In his arms was a little girl, wrapped up in a fluffy white sweater. She popped her head up and gave a big bright smile to Sirius that contrasted the look of horror on Regulus’ face.

“Reg? What are you doing here?” Sirius asked.

“Sirius, you know I wouldn’t have come to you unless it was of utmost importance,” Sirius nodded. “I know I haven’t been the best brother, but I need your help.”

“Of course. What is it?”

“I need you to take Lucy. She’s not safe with me or Elenor… not now at least.”

“Reg, what’s going on?” Sirius said, looking at the little girl with worry.

“I’ve found out something about the dark lord. I need to go to a cave by the seaside to get something and I’m afraid I won’t be coming back from this mission. Elenor has been targeted as a blood traitor and is now on the run from Death Eaters. Please… I just… you have to take Lucy. She’s too young… I don’t… I can’t… “ Regulus began to shake and couldn’t get the rest of his words out. Then the most unlikely of things happened, Sirius pulled him into a hug. 

“I understand. I’ll take her and I’ll raise her with as much love as I know you would have given her. And if I find Elenor, I will make sure she has a home here with her daughter too.” Sirius’ throat tightened at the thought of losing his younger brother, but he managed to keep his composure. They pulled apart and Regulus nodded a thanks to Sirius.

“Daddy? Are you ok?” Lucy asked looking up at Regulus.

“Yes, beautiful, Daddy’s ok. This is your Uncle Sirius,” Lucy smiled a cheesy smile up at her uncle who beamed down at her. “Daddy has to go away for a while so you’re going to stay with him, ok?”

“Ok, daddy. I love you.” Lucy wrapped her small arms around Regulus’ neck and he hugged back tightly and kissed her head. Sirius took this moment to memorise his brother, knowing it was the last time he’d ever see him again.

“I love you, too.” Regulus held onto Lucy for a few more minutes and then handed her over to Sirius. Regulus took one last look at his daughter who was waving her small hand at him before he apparated away.

 

**ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ ᶻ**

 

“Wake up! Lucy! Come on, wake up! We’re here!” Lucy opened her eyes to see Fred violently shaking her awake. 

“Stop it,” Lucy said, shoving him on the floor. “I’m up.” Lucy looked up and noticed it was just the two of them left in the cabin. “Where are the others?”

“Mae took off to the great hall with Diggory and I asked George and the others to save me a seat at the Gryffindor table while I stayed behind to wake you up.” Fred answered and then a big smirk grew on his face. “So, you love me?” Lucy made a face of disgust at him.

“What gave you that idea?” Lucy asked, ready to crack a joke.

“In your sleep you mumbled ‘I love you’ to me. It was a shock at first, but if I’m being completely honest, I can’t say I’m surprised that my Weasley charm won you over.” Fred boasted while still sitting on the ground.

“Yeah. Right. You caught me. I’m in love with you Fred,” Lucy held her hands to her heart for extra dramatic affect. “I want to marry you, and have ten children, and I want us to grow old together,” Lucy placed the back of her hand to her forehead and imitated fainting. “I’d just die if you didn’t love me back. You’re the only one I want to be with.” Lucy got down on one knee next to Fred and grabbed his hand. “Please, Fred Weasley, do me the honor of marrying me. I’d be the luckiest girl in the world.” Lucy finished her dramatic fake proposal by batting her eyelashes. It was too much. Fred and Lucy burst out laughing, holding onto one another to keep themselves upright. Their laughter echoed through the cabin for several minutes before they could even compose themselves enough to speak.

“We should probably head inside.” Fred said trying to calm his laughter.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Lucy stood up and offered a hand to Fred. They gathered their luggage and made their way to the carriages where a few students were still waiting to be picked up.

Lucy had completely forgotten her dream at this point, but it was only a matter of time before she would be harshly reminded of the reality that was her life.


	7. The Secret Passage

“You won’t believe what we found.” George whispered in Lucy’s right ear. She was so startled by his presence at the Slytherin table that she almost choked on the apple she had been eating with her breakfast. 

“Can’t this wait until I’m done with my breakfast?” Lucy said, shifting her head to both sides to look at Fred and George.

“Of course it can, go on, finish up.” Fred said. Lucy continued to eat her apple while scanning her eyes down the potions assignment from yesterday. She’d almost gotten half way through, but Fred and George were still right there, which was making it very difficult to focus. “Are you two going to just sit here and watch me eat until I’m done?”

“Yes.” They said in sync. Lucy gave an annoyed sigh then pushed her bowl of half eaten oats off to the side and got up, still holding her apple.

“What did you two want to show me?” Instead of answering her question, the twins dragged Lucy out of the great hall and towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. But instead of going up the stairs to the classroom, they stationed themselves by the statue of the one eyed witch. Fred lifted his wand and tapped the end of it to the hump, much to Lucy’s concern.

“Dissendium.” Fred said and smirked back at Lucy when an opening was made behind the statue. It was just big enough for each of them to crawl through.

“Lady’s first.” George said, leaning against the statue with an identical smirk.

“What’s the matter? You two scared and need me to go ahead to make sure there’s no monsters?” Lucy chuckled and ducked down to the crawl space before either of the boys could respond. It was difficult getting through the opening, but once she’d gotten through, it was quite easy to maneuver around the tunnel. Fred and George were close behind and once they’d gotten a few meters in, the entrance closed, causing the tunnel to become pitch black. Lucy pulled out her wand and lit it with the _lumos_ spell and the twins did so too. Several minutes later, Lucy was starting to think the tunnel would never end.

“Let me see that map.” Lucy said, turning around. Fred handed the map to her and she sat in a hunched over criss cross position while examining the map. “Does… does this tunnel go to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade?”

“It sure does.” Fred said with a big grin on his face. Lucy looked at the map one more time to see how much further they’d have to go in order to get to Honeydukes. She handed the map back to Fred, who handed it back to George, and turned around and continued to crawl.

The three of them finally made it to Honeydukes, the tunnel had led to the seller and much to their surprise, they managed to get into the front of the shop without being caught. It was amazing. There was candy everywhere stacked to the ceiling. Fred, George, and Lucy stared in awe at their surroundings, and after buying a few sugar quills and a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean, they made their way outside. It was only until they had walk down the street for half a minute that Lucy realised just how cold it was. It was snowing and she was only in her uniform, and despite the fact that she had the sweater part of her uniform on, it was still cold. She began to wish she had brought her Weasley sweater, or at the very least, her school robe. Fred and George immediately notice Lucy shivering and decided to stop at The Three Broomstick to warm up before heading back. This proved to be a big mistake when they saw Hagrid inside, heading towards their table.

“Wha’ d’you lot thin’ yer doin’ ‘ere?” Hagrid asked. “You shoul’nt be ou’ ‘ere, i’s agains’ school rules. I’ma have to be takin’ you three back now. Come on.” Hagrid gestured for them to follow, and reluctantly, they did. George made sure to keep the Marauders Map safely tucked away in his shirt.

It was a long, cold walk back to the castle, but eventually they made it. Hagrid led Lucy, Fred, and George to McGonagall's office and explained to her what happened, to which she responded by glaring at the three of them over her spectacles just like she had done before the sorting ceremony. 

“ _What_ were you three thinking, sneaking off to Hogsmeade? Did it not occur to you that you would face severe punishment for breaking the rules?” McGonagall asked. “I would have expected better behavior from you two boys. Your older brothers never did such reckless things. And you, Miss. Sallow, I thought you would have learned that I don’t tolerate such behavior after our first encounter.”

“We’re sorry Professor. It won’t happen again.” George said.

“You’re right, it _won’t_ happen again,” McGonagall’s voice was very stern when she said this. “And to make sure of this, you three have a weeks detention.” Fred snapped his head up at this and was about to protest but then thought better of it. “Now, would you two escort Miss. Sallow to Madam Pomfrey’s, she’ so cold that she’s turning blue. Make sure she hasn’t gotten sick from being out in that snow without proper attire.” The twins looked over at Lucy who was holding her arms and shivering, and sure enough, her lips were blue and her cheeks were flushed.

The twins nodded to Professor McGonagall before going over to Lucy and standing on either side of her wrapping their arms around her body to keep her warm as they walked to the infirmary.


	8. Infirmary + Pillow Talk

Professor McGonagall was right to send Lucy to the infirmary. Luckily she hadn’t gotten sick, but she was in much need of care to warm her shivering body up and get rid of the severe headache she had gotten from shock to unusual weather exposure. Fred and George made sure to stay with her the entire time, much to Madam Pomfrey’s dismay.

Lucy was instructed to stay overnight so that Madam Pomfrey could keep an eye on her and make sure she wouldn’t catch anything in her less than optimal condition. If it hadn’t been for the twins keeping her company and insisting that she stay, Lucy would’ve snuck out, not wanting to be in the infirmary for the rest of her Saturday. It wasn’t all bad though, the twins had decided to open up the Bertie Botts they got from Honeydukes and the three of them played a rather unfortunate game with the candies, leaving several bad tastes in each of their mouths.

“You two really don’t have to stay with me, I’ll understand if you want to go hang out with the others, or explore Hogwarts some more.” Lucy said through a mouthful of fruity beans.

“What, and leave you here all on your own,” Fred started.

“While you rot away sick,”

“Even though we were the ones who convinced you to go out in the first place,”

“And it’s our fault you’re in here?” George finished. “I don’t think so. You’re not getting rid of us that easy.”

“It wasn’t your fault. None of us thought this plan fully through. Besides, I feel fine.” Lucy said. Then there was a loud bang at the front of the infirmary. The doors had been thrown open and from the doorway emerged Eloise, Mae, Angelina, and Lee. They all had panicked looks on their faces as they rushed towards Lucy. Mae who looked like she was on the verge of tears, threw herself onto Lucy and into a tight embrace.

“McGonagall told us everything. We were so worried.” Mae said, not letting go. Lucy scooted over in the bed a little so Mae could sit next to her more comfortably.

“Speak for yourself, Mae. I wanna know why you three didn’t invite us on your little trip to Hogsmeade.” Angelina said in mock anger.

“Well, it was kind of a spontaneous trip… we didn’t know we were going there until we had gotten halfway.” George said.

To everyone's irritation, the visit was short. Madam Pomfrey came to shew everyone out and instructing them to head to their dorms, seeing as the sun was setting.

Lucy spent the first few hours she had alone staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Of course, it didn’t come as a surprise to her when she heard two sets of footsteps in the middle of the night, heading towards her bed.

“Lu, are you awake?” Fred whispered. Lucy responde with a soft hum and then the bed sank down. Fred and George settled themself onto the bed as best they could around Lucy’s legs and wrapping their arms around her loosely. A few minutes later, the steady breathing from all of them was the only sound in the room, with the occasional light snore from one of the twins. That night, they slept comfortably and soundly, despite sharing a bed that was most definitely not made for three.

The next morning, Lucy woke up to the unpleasant noise of light snoring from Fred and George. She looked down to see Fred on her right, holding onto her waist in a death grip and George’s whole body wrapped completely around her left leg.

She debated whether or not to just let them sleep for a few minutes longer before gently waking them, but then decided against it. With as much force as she could muster in her groggy state, she pushed them both off the bed. Two loud thumps signaling their bodies hitting the ground, followed by groans of pain, put a smirk on Lucy’s face.

“Morning to you too, sunshine.” Fred said, standing up and stretching before sitting back down on the bed.

“You could have just woken us by a few pokes to the face, you didn’t have to throw us off the bed.” George complained while sitting on the other side of the bed.

“What’s the fun in that.” Lucy said. She chuckled slightly and then sticking her tongue out at George’s scowling face.

“Well you three are up quite early.” Madam Pomfrey’s voice projected from the back. Lucy jumped up at the sight of her.

“Is it alright if I go now? I’m feeling much better.” Lucy asked. After a few quick vital checks, Madam Pomfrey allowed Lucy to leave. The three of them ran out as quickly as they could and straight to the Great Hall. It was still quite early, so Angelina, Lee, and Eloise weren’t there, but Mae was, and unsurprisingly sitting with Cedric, most likely to tell him, she’d be at his Quidditch practice, today, to cheer him on. Lucy waved at her as she passed by and she smiled back and gave a small wave in return. Lucy and the twins made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down by Charlie, Oliver, and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who were discussing strategies for their upcoming game against Hufflepuff.

“So, I heard a rumor going around that you three snuck off to Hogsmeade, yesterday.” Charlie said with a smirk. Fred, George, and Lucy all reflected the same knowing smirk back at Charlie and nodded to confirm the rumors, to which Charlie threw his head back and laughed.

“How’d you manage to do that?” Oliver asked, a mix of shock and being impressed plastered all over his face. Lucy, Fred, and George all looked at eachother and silently agreed to keep the map a secret.

“Well, you’ll have to ask them. I had no idea what was going on, they dragged me along against my will and before I knew it, we were at Hogsmeade.” Lucy said, throwing the question off to Fred and George. They both scoffed at her.

“That’s not true,” George said. 

“You were the one who led the way,”

“It might have been our idea,”

“But you knew what was happening the entire time,”

“Not to mention, it was your fault we got caught.” George realised too late, the mistake he had just made. 

“ _My_ fault. We got caught because you two didn’t tell me we were going out in the snow. It’s not my fault that I don’t carry a jumper around at all times in our fairly well tempered castle. Because of you two, I had to spend the night in the infirmary.” Lucy mocked anger and put her hands on her hips, sitting on her knees towards both of them. Charlie let out another roar of laughter.

“You spent the night in the infirmary?” Oliver asked, his voice full of concern.

“Don’t listen to her, she’s just being dramatic.” Fred said.

“That’s right. The entire time she was in the infirmary, she kept insisting that she was fine and that she wanted to go.”

“If it wasn’t for George and I, she wouldn’t have stayed and gotten better.”

“Madam Pomfrey was very thankful to have us there. Said we were amazing friends to be keeping Lucy company in her time of need.” George and Fred leaned onto Lucy, pulling her into a hug and coddling her while baby talking to tell her how much they cared about her and how they would never leave her all alone. Lucy made a disgusted scoffing noise and tried to pull away, but the twins had a tight hold on her, and eventually she gave up and grumpily sat with Fred and George’s arms wrapped around her. It was very difficult for them to eat their breakfast in the forced group hug, but Lucy somehow manage, at least better than the twins who were exerting most of their energy to keeping Lucy from running away. Charlie who found this quite amusing tried very hard to keep his focus on Quidditch. The rest of the team didn’t seem to mind that their captain was distracted since they found the three quite amusing as well. Eventually, Lucy had forgotten that she was being held hostage and made herself comfortable while listening to the Quidditch talk over breakfast.


	9. Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor

The Quidditch match had come sooner than anticipated. Lucy, Fred, and George had expected the week to drag on since they had detention for an hour everyday after classes. But they had spent their detention with McGonagall, with permission from Snape about Lucy’s punishment of course, so it wasn’t nearly as dreadful as they had thought it would be. The three of them made their way to the Quidditch pitch, clad in Weasley sweaters, house scarves, and fluffy hats. Lucy decided to sit with the twins in the Gryffindor stand.

Of course, Mae was on the Hufflepuff side, decked out in Hufflepuff attire. Lee was running around the stands with a camera, getting pictures of all the players. Charlie flew over to where Lucy and the twins were, before the match started.

“Here to cheer on the Gryffindor team, Lucy?” Charlie asked.

“No, actually. I’m here to laugh at anyone who falls off their broom.” Lucy said with a smirk.

“ ‘Course you are.” He said.

Madam Hooch yelled at Charlie and signaled him over the pitch. Charlie flew back out to the center of it, so the match could start. The game was very exciting to say the least. The Chasers made great throws and were playing at every angle possible, but somehow, to everyone's amazement, Oliver and the Hufflepuff keeper managed to block them all. They were 40 minutes into the game and neither side had scored any points yet. Much to Lucy’s disappointment, no one had fallen off their broom yet either. Her attention was directed elsewhere when people started shouting and pointing up. Lucy’s eyes followed Fred’s out stretch arm pointing at the sky.

Charlie and Diggory were flying upwards towards the snitch. They flew up so high that they disappeared into the clouds. Several seconds later, Madam Hooch blew her screeching whistle and declared Gryffindor the winners. Turns out she had an enchantment on her eyes so that she could see through the clouds.

Everyone was cheering and patting the Gryffindor team, shouting congratulations to them. Both teams gathered in the center of the pitch and congratulated one another on a game well played. Lucy thought that the Hufflepuff team looked far too cheerful for a team that just lost, but then she remembered that not everyone is a petty sore loser like her, and suddenly the Hufflepuff cheerfulness filled her and she was happy that regardless of the games outcome, that everyone was enjoying themselves.

“Enjoy the game?” Oliver said in a hushed voice into Lucy’s ear. She snapped around quickly with fake disappointment on her face.

“No! Not a single person fell off their broom… I was really looking forward to making snarky remarks and laughing at people who did.” Lucy said.

“Oh, poor you. If you’d like, I could fly up and fall off of my broom right now, just for you.” Lucy scoffed at Oliver’s offer.

“It’s not the same.” Lucy crossed her arms.

“What’s not the same?” Fred asked, coming up next to Lucy and putting his arm around her, while George did the same on the other side.

“No one fell off of their broom during the match, so Oliver offered to do it right now, so I could laugh at him.” Lucy explained. A loud laugh startled all of them and they looked over to see Charlie walking over to them. He threw his arm around Oliver and started to ruffle his hair.

“You were great out there, Wood. I knew it’d be a good idea to add you to the team. Now let’s head back to the common room to celebrate. Lucy, you can should too.” Charlie started to walk to the castle, pulling Oliver along.

“Bold of you to assume I wasn’t already planning on tagging along, Weasley.” Lucy wrapped her arms around the twins and the three of them followed Charlie to the castle. The Gryffindor common room was bustling with students of all years, celebrating.

Eloise and Angelina, who had slept through the match, came down to join the celebrations. Lee was off to one side of the room, selling mediocre pictures from the Quidditch match, and despite the low quality of the picture, he was making quite a bit of money off of them.

Lucy had joined Eloise and Angie who were talking off to the side about something other than Quidditch, much to Lucy’s relief. Not because she didn’t like Quidditch, but because she could only handle so much of it at one given time. The twins joined Lee and were helping by advertising his business 

Later on, Mae joined the party and brought Cedric along, he got in a deep discussion with Charlie, who was giving him pointers on seeking. The party lasted long into the early morning.

Eventually, Mae and Cedric headed back to the Hufflepuff common room before the party was over so that they weren’t out passed curfew. A few Ravenclaw’s who had joined the party left around the same time too. Lucy found refuge in Eloise and Angie’s room. The two of them pushed their beds together so that it was one big bed that the three girls could share.

“You two really missed out, today. Oliver did amazing, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him throughout the whole match.” Lucy said, initiating some pillow talk with Eloise and Angie.

“Sounds to me like somebody’s got a crush.” Angie said.

“I don’t know if I’d call it a crush… it’s something more along the lines of, I enjoy looking at him. I could say the same thing about Charlie, he’s really hot too, but I don’t have a crush on him either.” Lucy said.

“I knew it! You like one of the twins.” Eloise said with a face-splitting grin. Lucy burst out laughing and threw her whole body backwards while clutching her stomach..

“One of the twins? No way, they’re just friends.” Lucy said while sitting back up. “What about you two? Any crushes I should know about?”

“Nah.” Both of them answered.

“I think I’m in the same boat as you Lucy. Lot’s of a hotties, but no crushes. I don’t think I’ve gotten to know anyone enough to have developed a crush, yet.” Eloise said.

“Agreed.” Angie said. 

“We can all agree that Mae has a crush on Cedric, though, right?” Lucy asked, to which Angie and Eloise responded with _oh, yeah, definitely_ and _no doubt_. Their pillow talk session lasted for another hour before they fell asleep all snuggled up, under the warm comforters.


	10. End of the Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this works. I'm going to pick up in another work for their second year, because it's going to be a series, with each year being a new work.

The year had gone by too fast. Lucy, Fred, George, Angelina, Lee, Eloise, and Mae were all in the library getting in some last minute studying. The study session didn’t last long since the seven of them got so easily distracted. They didn’t worry too much about it though, since each of them excelled in one of the core classes that they were all taking this year: Lucy in Transfigurations, Fred and George in Charms, Angelina in Herbology, Lee in Astronomy, Eloise in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Mae in Potions. Beside, it wasn’t like they needed to excel in all of their core classes, they simply needed to pass, which should be easy since they’re only taking first year exams.

After 20 minutes of _studying_ , the group made their way to the Great Hall and went to their respective house tables to eat breakfast. Lucy felt as if she was in a daze for the entire day. She didn’t remember leaving the Great Hall to go to her Charms exam, she didn’t remember any of the exams after that, and before she knew it, she was walking back to the Great Hall to see who would be winning the house cup this year. Much to her surprise, it was Slytherin. She didn’t stand and cheer with the rest of her house, instead she stared down at the table, lost in thought. Suddenly, a hand was on her back, shaking her back to reality.

“You alright, Lu?” Fred asked. Lucy didn’t fully register what he said and answered with a small hmm, hoping it would be good enough. In all this time that Lucy was spending spaced out, it didn’t occur to her that the reason she was so deep in thought was because she had been pondering over the conversation she had with Angie and Eloise during the night of the Quidditch game. She couldn’t allow any feelings to develop for Oliver, he was too old for her. Then there was the twins, she loved hanging around them, but what if they ever became more than friends. _Stupid fucking hormones._ She thought. _I need to stop, we’re great friends, nothing more, nothing less. They don’t like me and I don’t like them. Simple as that._ With that final thought, Lucy stood up abruptly.

“We’re on the express!” Lucy said, finally aware of her surroundings.

“Umm, yeah, we’ve been here for almost 20 minutes, now… You feeling alright?” Fred asked. Lucy walked to the door.

“I’m gonna go get some sweets from the trolly. Any of you want something? It’s on me.” Lucy asked, feeling a lot more like herself now. She decided she was going to let her worries go and enjoy spending the rest of what little time she had left with her friends.

“Bertie Botts!” The Twins said in unison. The worry left all of their faces as they started shouting requests for Cauldron Cakes, Fizzing Whizbees, Chocolate Frogs, and Treacle Tarts.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.” Lucy started to walk towards the trolly when Angie, Eloise, and Mae came up behind her.

“Are you doing ok?” Mae asked.

“No. What if you guys were onto something,” Lucy looked at Angie and Eloise. “About Fred and George? I know I don’t like either of them like that, but I can’t stop thinking about the conversation we had. What if one of them like-likes me. That can’t happen, I don’t know how to handle other people’s feelings!” Lucy’s hands were tangled in her hair. The three girls stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“That’s… That’s why you’ve been… acting so out of it?” Angie said between fits laughter 

“I knew feelings made you nervous… but I didn’t think they’d make you have a full on mental block.” Eloise added while holding onto her side. Lucy furrowed her brows and then looked at Mae.

“I… I wasn’t… I wasn’t even there… when you had this conversation… did they really scare you that much?” Mae asked, laughing too. She was sitting on the ground, hugging herself and leaning against the wall.

“You guys, it’s not funny.” Lucy said

“Are you joking? This is hilarious.” Eloise said, getting her laughter under control.

“You have to promise not to tell them. I don’t want either getting the wrong idea.” Lucy pleaded.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us. Now let’s go get some sweets.” Angie said, and wrapped her arm over Lucy and started walking to the trolly. Lucy was grateful to have her worries lifted off of her chest.

By the time the four girls got back to the cabin all with armfulls of candies, Lucy completely forgot about everything, and then truly did take advantage of the rest of her time by being happy and enjoying the company of all her friends.

That summer, none of them hung out with one another, but they owled almost every week and it was enough for them. They all looked forward to the next year. To more pranks, more magic, and more fun.


End file.
